RWBY is Strange
by RWBYSanctum
Summary: It's been 5 years, but Ruby Rose has returned to Vale, eager to meet her friends. But a night out sparks a chain of events that Ruby inadvertently begins, and as new discoveries are made and bonds challenged, Ruby and her new powers are put to the ultimate test. But when the final choice comes, will she make the right choice? Life is Strange AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! So I'm bored and had to start writing something, but guess what? My mind's too flooded with the BS I have to study to come up with something creative, and I'm quite bored of writing the older stories for now. I'll still update, but not frequently, and even this story might have a long wait. Why? Cause studies. Basically, I have a major exam in about 3 months, and since my most recent school mock exams didn't do well (Failed 2, just passed 1 and aced 2) I got banned from just about everything but studying. As I write this, I'm hoping my mum doesn't rifle through my files and find this. But I do know that basically I'm in a rough spot right now, so don't expect this level of rebellion so frequently.**

 **But all rebellious attitudes aside, I did really want to write. Had to find an outlet to do that since my English teacher says my argumentative essays are becoming too fluffy. So…this is it. I had the idea for a while, but never knew how to implement it. If you haven't already guessed from the title, this is a mix between my second favourite animated show (behind Attack on Titan) and my favourite game ever, Life is Strange.**

 **This will be a bit OOC, since not all the characters fit into the classic archetype of characters in Life is Strange, and I changed up the story and character interactions a little, so hope you guys understand! Also, some major characters in RWBY got cut to minor characters and some OCs.**

 **For those of you who have played LiS, you'll know it's a choice-based game. Now, since I've only played the game once, and I don't have the time to watch playthroughs of all possible choices, this story will basically follow the choices I made in my own playthrough. This mostly applies to major choices—dialogue choices are the ones I don't really care about unless they're a major choice—so do keep that in mind. That said, if you guys wanted a different choice, I'll be glad to post an alternative chapter!**

 **Now just in case, this is the character list and who they correspond to:**

 **Ruby—Max Caulfield**

 **Weiss—Chloe Price**

 **Jaune—Warren Graham**

 **Ozpin—Mark Jefferson**

 **Winter—Rachel Amber**

 **Blake—Kate Marsh**

 **Cinder—Victoria Chase**

 **Walter—David Madsen**

 **Qrow—Frank Bowers**

 **All right, enough talk! Let's get it on!**

Chapter 1

 _Rain. Wetness. It's all around me, a dull pitter-patter against the ground._

 _Hard ground, unyielding. The ground feels rough underneath my skin…_

 _Wait, hard ground? My eyes flutter open, and the first thing I notice is that I'm lying, face-down, on hard caked soil._

" _Wait, why am I outside? I was in class!" I think to myself. What's going on?_

 _I push myself up from the ground, the rain coating me, splattering all around me. The wind is strong, buffeting me with leaves and rain, drenching me further and chilling me to the bone. Somewhere in the distance, I hear loud booming thunder._

 _Shit! I have to get to shelter! I start looking around, but all I see are trees billowing violently in the wind, as if struggling in a futile attempt to stay upright against the gale-force winds. In front of me lies a straight dirt path._

 _Hugging myself in a weak attempt to stay warm, I start making my way down the path, hoping it would lead me to somewhere with shelter. As I walk, I feel the winds getting stronger, and I'm struggling to even move properly._

 _Suddenly, the path winds right, and as I take the corner, I see a familiar sight. A bench, a swing and a flight of dirt stairs that look old and about to crumble, and in the distance, a lighthouse, its light a beacon of hope for me._

 _Pushing myself forward against the wind and rain, I slowly make my way towards the lighthouse. Up the stairs, past the swing…_

 _I'm almost near the lighthouse when the clearing opens up, giving me a usually beautiful sight of Vale Bay. What I see now shocks me, making me pause in sheer horror and shock._

 _Over the waters that surround the bay, I see a large funnel cloud of wind and air. I've seen waterspouts before, but none of this power or magnitude. It stretched from the sea to the clouds, and it was massive in width, far bigger than anything I've ever seen._

 _Rooted in horror, I fail to see the piece of debris that flies straight towards the lighthouse. It's a massive piece of sheet metal that neatly slices the top of the lighthouse off. As the roof tumbles down, massive pieces of rock and debris falling towards my immobile self, I realize I'm about to die, and shield my face with my hands, and just scream…_

WHUMP!

Suddenly, I'm not in a forest. My clothes aren't drenched and bright light filters through. It takes me a moment to regain my bearings, but after a while, I recognize the posters littering the walls, the nature shots, and the old Victorian windows, and I know I'm back in class.

 _Woah, what a dream_ , I think to myself as I gather my bearings. I'm seated alone at the table. In front of me is Ozpin, the famous photographer and a personal idol of mine. He had an aura of mystique around him that was coupled to the fact that he never revealed his first name to anyone. There were all sorts of rumours flying around as to what it was, but nothing concrete.

He was lecturing about some 20th century photographer and how he had pioneered the way for photography, having seemingly not noticed that I had probably fallen asleep midway through his class—and right in front of him, no less.

Across from me, Cinder Fall sat cross-legged and sultry-like, as if she owned the school. As Ozpin lectured, she crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it sideways behind Ozpin. The paper ball hit a girl at the opposite table, and she winced in obvious embarrassment as the posse of girls behind Cinder giggled.

I felt a wave of anger pulse through me as I looked over at Blake, the girl who had been hit by the paper ball. When I had returned to Vale from Patch Island, Blake had been one of the first—and as it would turn out, the first of just three—friends who I befriended. The Faunus girl was shy and quiet, and her cat ears which poked out of her head like a cute headband marked her as a target for bullying, particularly from Cinder Fall and her posse of blind followers.

How best to describe Cinder? Remember those films about high school where they always played up every stereotypical high school archetype? Cinder Fall was basically the popular, stuck-up and arrogant bitch that no one but her friends liked, but somehow everyone wanted to date. I glared at her, and she turned her head away haughtily, that stupid grin never leaving her face.

Looking back at Ozpin, I saw that he was still lecturing, apparently oblivious to whatever had happened. Hoping he wouldn't see, I grabbed my scroll off the table and proceeded to type a message to Blake, something encouraging, maybe.

"Scrolls on the table, Miss Rose. You know the rules." Ozpin announced, and I blushed with embarrassment as I gingerly placed my scroll back on the table. Behind Ozpin, Cinder giggled, giving me a look that made me want to punch her in that stupid face.

As Ozpin resumed his lecture, I quickly got bored again and started rifling through my scrapbook of photos. As I looked through all the photos I had taken on my first day here, I stopped at one which I had taken recently.

It was a picture of me staring at a wall of photographs I had taken. I had taken that picture as an attempt to submit something for the Everyday Heroes Contest Ozpin had been talking about. He wanted everyone to submit a photo for him to select a winner from, and this had been my attempt. Looking back, I wondered why I even thought this was a good idea, as now, looking at that picture, I thought it was complete bullshit.

 _There's no way I'm submitting this to Ozpin,_ I thought, as I flipped the page. The next page was empty, without photographs or annotations. It was supposed to hold a photograph that I was supposed to take today—a personal challenge I set myself, to take a photo every day and put it in a scrapbook.

Feeling a little self-conscious, I grabbed my camera and faced the lens towards me. As I snapped the selfie, I heard a soft whisper.

"I believe Ruby has taken what you kids like to call a 'selfie'. A dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Ruby... has a gift." Ozpin had seen me take the selfie, and it had somehow piqued his interest. I blushed at his slight compliment, even if I didn't know exactly what he meant.

"Of course, as you all know, the photo portrait has been popular since the early 1800's. Your generation was not the first to use images for selfie-expression." He continued, his face taking on a more serious expression, before he chuckled softly. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. The point remains that the portraiture has always been a vital aspect of art, and photography, for as long as it's been around."

Then he turned to look directly at me.

"Now Ruby, since you captured our interest and clearly want to join the conversation, can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?"

I swear, I had never gotten so much attention before. It seemed like everyone in the class was staring at me. The problem was, I had no clue what Ozpin was talking about.

"You're asking me? Um…" I tried to come up with something, but I was drawing a blank.

"You either know this or you don't, Ruby!" Ozpin exclaimed exasperatedly, before turning to the rest of the class with a sigh, "Is there anybody here who knows their stuff?"

Cinder immediately raised her hand, "Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created „daguerreotypes", a process that gave portraits a sharp reflective style, like a mirror." As she spoke, she turned to me with a condescending expression.

"Now you're totally stuck in the Retro Zone. Sad face." She fake-pouted at me, and behind her, Emerald giggled. I blushed with both anger and embarrassment, and I slunk down into my chair, just wishing I could disappear—or punch Cinder in the face

"Very good, Cinder." That charming smile was back, only this time directed at Cinder. "The Daguerreian Process brought out fine detail in people's faces, making them extremely popular from the 1800's onward. The first American daguerreotype self-portrait was done by Robert Cornelius. You can find out all about him in your textbook. Or even online." As he said those last words, he turned to me with an expectant look. I sunk lower in my chair.

I was saved from further embarrassment by the loud ringing of the school bell. As everyone began to pack up, Ozpin announced, "Don't forget the deadline to submit a photo in the Everyday Heroes contest. I'll fly out with the winner to San Francisco where you'll be feted by the art world. It's great exposure and it can kickstart a career in photography. So Pyrrha and Velvet, get it together. Reese, don't hide, I'm still waiting for your entry too. And yes Ruby, I see you pretending not to see me."

I pack up my bag and wait for Cinder and her posse to leave, but Cinder immediately moves to talk to Ozpin, presumably trying to kiss ass for whatever reason. Blake sat in her seat sullenly, and I moved to talk to her.

"Hey, Blake."

"Oh, hey Ruby." She replied in that whisper quiet voice. An awkward silence passed between us, before I spoke up again.

"Listen…don't care about Cinder. She's just being a bitch."

"Well, it's hard not to care or ignore her," She says sadly, before looking at me with a small smile, "But it's nice to know that at least someone here cares. Thanks, Ruby."

"No problem. Wanna grab some bites?" I ask.

"Thanks, but maybe later. I have some work to finish. Maybe tonight?" She offered.

"Sure, shouldn't be a problem." I smiled.

"All right then, see you later." She grabs her bag and proceeds to leave. I move towards the door.

"I see you, Ruby Rose. Don't even think about leaving until we've talked about your entry." Ozpin calls from across the room. I freeze, my hand halfway to the doorknob, and turn around to face him.

As I walk up to him, Cinder gives me a look of sheer disgust. I ignore it.

"Ruby, you have a gift, I can see that. I truly wish that you would show it to the world. A contest like Everyday Heroes doesn't come too often, and you should seize the opportunity to showcase your work." He advises.

I couldn't show him my picture. No way. Not to Ozpin. I needed some kind of excuse, and so I said the first thing that came to my head in as guilty a voice as I could manage.

"I'm sorry, Mr Ozpin. Way too much homework…I didn't have any time."

"Ruby, you're a better photographer than a liar." He calls me out.

"Now I know it's a drag to hear some old dude lecture you," he continued, "but life won't wait for you to play catch-up. You're young, the world is yours, blah blah blah, right?"

"But you do have a gift, you have the fever to take images, to frame the world only the way you envision it. Now, all you need is the courage to share your gift with others. That's what separates the artist, from the amateur."

I don't say anything. I can't say anything. I'm just in total shock that Ozpin is even talking to me like that, as though we were friends, not just teacher and student. Apparently, Cinder picks up on that too, as the look she gives me is one of pure hatred. If looks could kill, I would have been dead.

I smiled and simply thanked him.

"Now run along. I do believe your classes are over, and I do hate to take up other people's valuable time." He makes a sidelong glance at Cinder.

I could not get out of there fast enough.

As I step out into the corridor, I finally check my messages. There's a few from Mom (still gushing about how proud she is of me), one from Jaune (just checking in), one from Blake (confirming tonight's arrangements) and one from…Weiss.

Weiss Schnee. My best friend since childhood. Our parents had been good friends in high school, and when the two of us had first met, it was obvious the bond that had existed between our parents extended to us as well. We celebrated everything together, we had sleepovers together, we were inseparable. Even when I moved to Patch, I talked to her on a daily basis.

Since I had moved back two days ago, I had kept up the pretense that I was still in Patch. My return to Vale was with little fanfare and reception, which was ideal since I wanted to surprise her. Like me, she attended Vale Academy, but while I was confined to the art block, she was held up in the business and commercial end. It meant that she finished classes a lot earlier than I did, which helped me maintain the surprise.

Well, I hadn't planned exactly when to surprise her, but once I saw her message, I immediately started planning.

" _OMG Rubes! I got an A for that stupid business project!"_ The message read. I smiled. About two weeks ago, Weiss had been given some project to complete in the week. I didn't understand any of what she talked about, but I could tell she was under a lot of stress and really hated the project. To know she had aced it made me happy.

I texted back, " _Weiss Schnee, professional businesswoman! Congrats!"_

" _Thanks, Rubes! How's life in Patch?"_

" _Kinda boring. Not much to do, still."_

" _Wish you were here, Rubes. We could have celebrated so hard_ _"_

At that moment, I came up with the perfect plan.

" _No probs. Say, you're in Vale Acad right? Do you know someone named Blake Belladonna?"_

" _Heard the name before. Art student?"_

" _Yep! Met her on some exchange programme a few years ago. Found out she was studying here a few weeks ago."_

" _Nice! Can I meet her? She should be nice if you could befriend her XD"_

" _Oh haha. I'll drop her a text. Where can she meet you at?"_

" _Well, I'll be hanging around the Business block. First floor lockers. Blake should know where they are."_

" _Alright, got it! Thanks!"_

I smiled to myself. Now I had a place to meet. I raced off towards the Business block.

The Business block was just behind the Art block, about two minutes walk away. As I made my way there, I pulled my hood over my head. Didn't want her seeing me too early.

As I entered the Business building, I pulled my hood up slightly, just enough to see without impaired vision but hard for people to notice. There was a sign that pointed towards the lockers, and I pulled my hood back up, slowly walking towards the lockers.

I spotted her instantly. Weiss had always like white. She once said it was because her name meant "white", so maybe there was some divine power that influenced her liking. Whatever the case, she always wore white, no matter what.

Today she was wearing a white jacket over a white blouse. Her jeans were white, somehow, and her hair had a white streak, a memento from a time when she had wanted to dye her hair white when she was a kid. The streak of white was a compromise between her parents and her.

She was carrying a large pile of books in her hand and was checking her scroll. Just like I expected, she had one foot on the locker, one foot in front of her. Perfect. Just had to wait for the opportunity…

She put her scroll in her pocket. Perfect.

I walked towards her slowly, past the crowd of people mingling in the corridor. As I walked past her, her face still glued to her textbook, I "tripped", knocking the book out of her hands.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She immediately bent down to help.

"It's fine. It's my fault." I deepened my voice slightly, not wanting Weiss to know just yet. I picked up the book and still head facing down, passed it to her.

"Thanks." She accepted the book back, then continued, "I'm sorry, I should have paid more attention, I didn't see my foot sticking out…"

I put a hand on her shoulder, and she paused.

"It's totally fine Weiss."

"How do you…" She paused, because at that moment, I pulled my hood down to show her my face.

It took her a second, then she hugged me. Like, _really_ hugged me.

"OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, RUBYIT'SYOU!" She said rapidly and cheerily.

"Can't…breathe…" I struggled out.

"Oh, sorry!" She lets go of me, then stares at me with a big smile on her face.

"My god, it's really you. I thought you were still in Patch!"

"I got a scholarship back here about a week ago. Only been back for about three days." I replied.

"Three days?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you!"

"Well you certainly did." She hugs me, not so tightly this time, and I hug her back tightly. It really felt good to be with Weiss again.

It's really hard to describe my friendship with Weiss. We were like more than best friends, but not so much that we were an item. It was something like a sisterly relationship, but stronger than that. If you saw us hanging out together, you would have really thought us sisters but for the lack of semblance between us. Where Weiss was generally a little more rebellious—a trait she developed from her late father—I was always the shy one, really introverted and unwilling to come out of my shell.

She broke free from the hug and excitedly squealed, "Oh, this is great, we can have so much fun together! Come on, let's grab dinner together tonight at the diner! My treat!"

I giggled silently. Weiss always put up a façade of seriousness, but only a few of her closest friends knew that it was just a mask she used in front of her strict parents and equally strict teachers. As someone who was destined to enter the business industry—her stepdad Walter Schnee owned the second largest business in Vale—she had to look the part and play the part. There was a running joke between the two of us that she was a better actor than a businesswoman.

"Actually, Blake and I have an arrangement tonight. But…" I continued quickly, an idea coming to my head, "why not we head out to the diner together? Just the three of us?"

"Sure! It'll help me get to know her a bit better. You know, I actually talked to her a few times before. She seems like such a nice person. It's so sad seeing her get bullied." Weiss' face drops for a moment, before she smiles again, "Anyways, how about I meet you guys at 7 tonight?"

"Sounds like a plan!" I agreed.

"Great! I gotta go meet someone first, so I'll catch up with you later?" She picks up her bag from the floor and turns to leave, before suddenly turning back and hugging me again.

"It's really good to have you back." She whispers, before breaking away and running off.

I drop a text over to Blake, " _Hey Blake, I met an old friend today and she wants dinner at the diner downtown. Wanna tag along?"_

" _Depends. Who's the friend?"_

" _You might know her. Wears white all the time."_

" _Weiss Schnee? Well, she's always nice to me, so sure!"_

" _Great! Meet me at the front gate at 6.30!"_

" _Alright."_

I shove my scroll back into my pocket and take a glance at the time. 4.30. I still had a good two hours to go before we were supposed to meet.

 _Alright, let's get some work done._ I mentally tell myself as I stroll back to the girls' dormitories.

 _Tonight is going to be awesome!_ I tell myself gleefully.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Because even though I didn't know it, even as I walked back to be dorm, unbeknownst to the events the future had in store for me, I had set off something that there was no way back from.

As I walked back, I had no idea that today was the last normal day I would have.

 **Well, if you've played Life is Strange, you would know that I changed…a lot. The front part is practically the same but the second half is my own design. I won't explain all of my choices (get it? Choices? Cause, Life is Strange?) but I will explain some (SPOILERS FOR LIFE IS STRANGE EP 1)**

 **The whole 'discovering her powers' scene. I do plan on implementing it in the next chapter. However, I felt that personally, the entire opening of LiS is kinda bad. I felt like they rushed the whole scene and it could have been a bit more powerful if they had established the characters a lot more. Of course, that's just my opinion.**

 **Character choices. Some make sense (I hope): Cinder being the resident bitch Victoria Chase, Ruby being the introverted but strong willed Max, Ozpin being the mysterious Jefferson (oh, the plans I have for Ozpin). But others are a bit weirder, like Weiss being Chloe and Blake being Kate. There will be some weirder choices later, but these are the ones I think most people will be confused by. To put it simply, Kate always felt like she was being discriminated against for being the good Christian girl. And if you've read some of my other stories, Blake's practically typecast as the "discriminated party". Once I made that connection to Kate, it was a simple matter of putting Blake in to fill that role. Which brings me to…**

 **Weiss being Chloe. I probably could not have picked a more polar opposite character for Chloe. Chloe takes rebellion to a whole new level while Weiss is a bit more subservient and spoilt. And the whole scene with regards to Chloe having to die in the beginning, which I cut out. But I did all this with certain intentions in mind. First off, this is a White Rose story, so if Ruby was Max, Weiss was Chloe (I'm sorry, but in LiS, Pricefield 4 Life). But second, something always bugged me about LiS' opening. If Max truly was Chloe's best friend, why didn't she recognize her the first time in the bathroom? It made no sense to me and I figured it was better to establish the duo having a really close relationship, further driving home the pain of Ruby seeing Weiss die (hey, it's not a spoiler if you've played LiS) in the next chapter.**

 **But enough explanation. What do you guys think? Please read, review, favourite and/or follow if you liked it and don't be hesitant to put criticism!**

 **Alright, that's all for now, and I will see you all in the next chapter! Until next time, RWBYSanctum OUT!**


	2. Author's Note

**Hey guys. So if you haven't really noticed by now, I've been off the grid for quite some time. Well, I put that down to a little something I like to call: EXAMS. Yep, in November, I'll be taking a major exam (like, life-determining major) and I've been focusing on it since July since I'm not in the best shape for it. Because of that, and because it's September, I haven't posted and won't be posting as often.**

 **HOWEVER! Do not fret, for I have some awesome news! After my exams end, I'm basically free till the next year, so what's a guy to do? Well, keep an eye out cause I'm about to announce the mother of all update schedules! Below is the list of stories I'll be releasing, the one-shots planned, and new stories planned!**

 **So here we go!**

 **Current stories**

 **Pokemon: Rise of Evil**

 **Arc 2 Chapter 2: Coordinate Release Date: 26th September**

 **Arc 2 Chapter 3: Siege Release Date: 30th November**

 **Arc 2 Chapter 4: Infiltrate Release Date: 4th December**

 **Arc 2 Finale: Revelations Release Date: 7th December**

 **Arc 3 will continue in February 2017**

 **RWBY Is Strange**

 **Crysalis Part 2: Discovery Release Date: 29th November**

 **Crysalis Part 3: Tension Release Date: 2nd December**

 **Crysalis Part 4: Vision Release Date: 6th December**

 **Crysalis Finale: Ignite Release Date: 8th December**

 **Out of Time (Episode 2) returns January 2017**

 **A Night To Remember (because of popular demand)**

 **Chapter 2 (which will be the FINAL CHAPTER) Release Date: 5th December**

 **On top of this, I'm also gonna be re-writing:**

 **X-Men: Age of Oblivion-I really wanted to finish this story, but lost major interest in it a long time ago. But, because of popular demand, I'll be rewriting it. Expected re-release: February 2017**

 **Remnants of Ourselves-The first chapter didn't go so well, so I'm planning a rethink. Expected re-release: March 2017**

 **And sadly, I'm also sad to announce that I'm cancelling Biting the Dust. Look, guys, I love the story a lot and I wanted to write it the way I wanted to. But I've had so many people throwing in requests (an euphamism) like, "If Blake doesn't turn away from the White Fang in like 2 chapters, I'm quitting this story" or "Could you make Weiss a tsundere (like what the hell is a tsundere anyways?)?" and it's getting on my nerves. I'm not gonna change my story just to suit your whims. I've grown tired of it, so I'm cancelling it.**

 **On a brighter note, I also have some one-shots and two new stories I'll be writing in December, plus a week-long Christmas-New Year special where I'll be writing a story from 24th to 30th December. The planned schedule so far is:**

 **Planned One-Shots**

 **Hollow Feeling (White Rose Angst Fluff) Release Date: 14th December**

 **The Last of Us (Attack on Titan Angst) Release Date: 16th December**

 **The Ties that Bind (Levi x Petra Angst Fluff) Release Date: 18th December**

 **Planned Stories**

 **Titanic Remnant (an AoT RWBY Crossover) Release Date: 20th December**

 **Survive (Amourshipping story) Release Date: 30th December**

 **Christmas Week**

 **24th Dec: Christmas Yeager (Eremika Christmas Special)**

 **25th Dec: Home for the Holidays (Advanceshipping Christmas Special)**

 **26th Dec: Gifts and Gaffs (RWBY Christmas Special)**

 **27th Dec: Day (Franticshipping One-Shot)**

 **28th Dec: I'll be putting up a poll nearer the date for you guys to decide**

 **29th Dec: Ignis Passion (Advanceshhipping One Shot Lemon)**

 **30th Dec: Survive Chapter 1**

 **At this point, you might notice I left a week-long gap in December where I'm not planning any stories. That's deliberate, and for a few reasons:**

 **1) I'll probably be working part-time and so won't have so much time to write**

 **2) I plan to build a relationship with my crush of two years (I haven't confessed yet, but plan to after the exams) and just want to spend some time with her.**

 **3) Pokemon Sun and Moon. Do I need to explain?**

 **4) I kinda want to expand my horizons on the anime side of stuff, plus catch up on a lot of movies, Game of Thrones, Gotham...**

 **5) and most importantly, I'll be working on my first original story (entitled Omega) that I hope to publish one day.**

 **So that's it for now! Hopefully you guys don't rage too hard on me for this, and please be patient! Thank you all, and I'll see you in December! Till the next time, RWBYSanctum out!**


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